Following on from Part 1: Autonomy, the second component of motivation is Mastery. In this three-part series I am focusing on the three intrinsic motivators. The extrinsic motivator of salary is important. My view is to pay people relevant to their role, and maybe a little more. If we are able to meet the basic human needs of food, shelter, and clothing, it alleviates those stresses and pressures from individuals and is better for society. Taking money out of the equation will always free up the ability to motivate through the intrinsic factors. Without having the intrinsic motivators being met then it’s unlikely to have enjoyable work occur every day, and I mean every day.
Mastery
Defined as comprehensive knowledge or skill in a subject or activity.
I feel mastery is akin to having a growth mindset and the sense of progress one can experience in mastering a task. Consider it first from your own perspective, think back to a time you started a new job or task at work. How about having a date over for dinner and trying out a new recipe? The satisfaction of having that pork roast cook perfectly or understanding a computer program that you had never used before and can now teach others? These are small examples but nothing that can’t be extrapolated out more broadly.
Some may say that the problem with motivation is that it is fleeting and you need to constantly entice others with rewards. In a World of constant connection and notifications, the pull of the ‘gram may be so strong that for some it is easy to get distracted and lose motivation for the task at hand.
However, in order to achieve mastery of the big things, in comes the two lifelong friends of discipline and consistency. Having discipline with yourself or embedding it within a team ensures progress. I am an avid fan of Jocko Willink’s work and whilst his military discipline is next level, the principles are sound. If you can encourage the team to have discipline to keep learning to use that new software program, they will get better at it. Simple. Discipline is about sticking with it when it gets tough or distractions are readily available.
Where discipline comes first, alongside travels consistency. Consistency is about moving the needle a little bit each and every day, getting better than yesterday. Consistency is about doing something each day that moves towards the goal, the mastery of the skill or subject takes time. Let me just emphasise this point, doing something each day, no matter how small will ensure the step to mastery is closer. So how to understand the level of mastery in your team?
Three questions to bring it all together:
1. What are you making progress with today? Try to understand what their focus is and what are they actively working on and getting better at doing.
2. What steps are you taking today to get closer to your goal? Depending on their role within the organisation, the goals will vary greatly. You are looking for understanding if they are clear on their goal and know how to get there. An exasperated or defeated response is a clear sign of low progress which is impacting motivation.
3. What are the areas of your skills (or task) that you want to develop? Here you are seeking to draw out what are the areas for growth and further mastery. Proceed with caution as it can often result in a request for training. Often employees may ask for training because they think it will be a fix, once they are trained then it will be easier. As a manager, your role is to understand what the training would be providing and unless the employee is motivated to progress and master the activity by demonstrating intrinsic motivation, then I would be thinking twice before investing in a training course.
When you see changes in motivation that are positive, or progress being made, please recognise and reward. It can be from an appreciative email of acknowledging the efforts, or it can be an award within your organisation. Human beings are social by nature, and social recognition that the employee would appreciate goes a long way towards enduring loyalty and motivation.
This blog post was inspired by Daniel Pink’s book Drive. Which has way more scientific evidence to support these core principles. This post is my take on each component. Stay tuned for Part 3: Purpose.
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